Christmas 1930s style

[LauraChant]

I am in possession of a falling-apart book published in 1932, called The Perfect Christmas (by the author of The Perfect Hostess, apparently.)

It has handy sections on what gifts are appropriate for the domestic staff, how to cope when your "nice but inpecunious country cousin comes to stay (give herbthe money for a permanent wave among other things) and what gifts to send to a "come down in the world" in the workhouse.

Here are the suggested gifts for the lady of the house, in case anyone is looking for inspiration:

Linen table mats
Silk stockings
Large glass flower bowls
A brass toasting fork
A blue Morocco suitcase, costing about a pound
A set of address books marked Friends- Tradesmen- Hotels etc
A set of scissors
Fantasie bath salts - be careful of the brand
A year's subscription to "Vogue" or "The Times' Literary Supplement" - or both
A box of large assorted envelopes, together with a sealing set
A cover for her Telephone Book

Seen anything you fancy? If anyone wants 1930s inspiration for "the head of the house", the domestic staff, schoolgirls, schoolboys, or stockings, or advice onvwhat to do in advance, how to cope if you are short of cash, or what to do when all the servants ate out on Boxing Day, let me know.

[Chottie]

p.s. in those days Christmas trees used to have real candles on them which were lit on Christmas Eve. I have some artificial Christmas trees from the 30s with candle holders on them.

[Chottie]

I went to a convent school in the 60s / 70s and it is one of my accomplishments that I can eat an orange with a knife and fork :)

I'm loving this thread, I always put holly around the pictures too, my parents and grandparents did this, so childhood memories. I have some Christmas decorations which date pre WWII, I love using them each year and thinking about all the Christmases they have been a part of.

[TEErickOrTEEreat]

The peat might have to do with making whiskey, actually.

[LauraChant]

Yes, there is a lot of stuff about charity at Christmas as well, I will dig out a nice bit.

There is also some gob-smacking racism.

[TheYamiOfYawn]

I'm a pretty impressed ny how generally fun and thoughtful all the suggestions are. And I'm loving the rather garish decorations.

I think a long legged doll might be one of those of those gangly rag dolls.

[Herisson]

Sorry, I was half-joking, too. I was probably committing a faux pas, but who cares, it's only a real faux pas if someone is scandalised by it!

[georgettemagritte]

(I was joking about peeling them by hand being terrible table manners....combination is a bit silly - though amusing - I can't imagine anyone would seriously care about the knife and fork business, it's a bit of a game for some older fellows to look scandalised because someone's passed the port the wrong way or whatever....)

[Herisson]

I have been served an unpeeled orange with a knife and fork. I picked it up and peeled it. Nobody complained.

[georgettemagritte]

Haha! No it comes unpeeled. I think technically you are probably supposed to cut it open with knife and fork (as with bananas if there are any out!) but in practice all the old professors have terrible table manners and just peel them by hand! I think they like to think women fellows should be held to higher standards! I never had the tangerines, just to avoid the social horror of not knowing if people would expect me to eat it with the cutlery....

[LauraChant]

Are you allowed to peel the tangerine first or is it already peeled?!

[georgettemagritte]

*stuff not stiff!

[georgettemagritte]

Laura - I think dessert only really appears at combination for the fellows or at feasts. I was the first time I got "gently" warned beforehand that I would be expected to eat a fig, a tangerine and some grapes with a knife and fork, followed by a stint serving the coffee. My college had a ridiculous ritual of toasting the Queen and some silly stiff about things you had to say while passing the port as well. It was like being whisked back to a country house party between the wars! Insane stuff beloved of elderly men with not much other social life!

No idea about peat! Whisky?

[attheendoftheday]

No idea, but i'm loving this thread!

[LauraChant]

Wow, I had no idea re dessert, and I went to Cambridge! I have experienced savoury though, in a "what are these garlic mushrooms doing arriving after the creme brulee" way.

I also had no idea re jam made from currants hand-seeded with goose quills. The faff!

Does anyone have any idea what the Peat for the head of household is all about? Why would it make him happy and revive memories?

[georgettemagritte]

Love this thread! I'm an economic historian but have colleagues who do history of foodstuffs and it's so much more fun, wish I had thought to specialise in it!

"Dessert" is fruit and nuts, eaten with a knife and fork, is very distinct from "pudding", and comes at the end of the meal after pudding and savoury. Some places still have this today to trip up the unwary, eg Oxbridge college dinners and grand country houses!

[Herisson]

Bar le duc jam is apparently "made of miniature currants hand-seeded with goose quills, it's the caviar of fruit preserves."

[Herisson]

These are brilliant. I for one would love a blue morocco suitcase. And I love the 'easy' lunch. I really want some white currant jam, now, too. And a hall full of servants.

[LauraChant]

I like the idea that they are dressed as a Tram Conductor but armed with a Knife, a Pistol and a (Small) Rifle. Psycho Tram Conductor from Hell.

[TEErickOrTEEreat]

A pair of handcuffs?!?!

[adalovelacelaptop]

The teenage boys presents are so funny, these days those presents would get the boy an asbo and the parents would have to attend parenting classes.

[shelley1977]

Wonderful, I really loved the stockings. I love book like this.

[LauraChant]

With the mutant long legged doll I envisage a kind of proto Barbie but may be wrong.

I don't know if teenagers existed in the 1930s but Schoolboys would like: a pair of Handcuffs (most popular), a Silver Watch, a Knife (!), Book on their special subject, Pistol with caps (!), Small Rifle (!!), Tram Conductor Outfit, Roller Skates and Red Indian Tent.

[LauraChant]

Well now, you need to concentrate on certain rooms and do them lavishly. These rooms are: the Hall, the Dining Room, the Nursery, the Schoolroom and the Servants' Hall.

Each room requires a set piece and these are:

The Hall: A Christmas Tree made to look as snowy as possible by non-inflammable cotton wool and decorated with coloured balls and tinsel.Mistletoe over the door and holly on all the pictures. The table where letters and small parcels are placed might be covered with a scarlet cloth gfor this week only.

The Dining-room: Red candles in silver candlesticks and red poinsettias for a formal dinner - small Christmas figures of Santa Claus, reindeer, sledges for other occasions.

The Schoolroom: A bunch of different coloured balloons suspended from the ceiling give a festive air even if they have a habit of "popping" occasionally. A jar of honesty in the window and a pot of red tulips growing nearby.

The Nursery must have its own minature Christmas tree and the children should be allowed to decorate and redecorate it as often as they like. In the corner of the Nursery there should be a little Manger with the Holy Figures and this will be treated with great reverence.

The Servants' Hall: May I suggest that the Domestic Staff be given the money and allowed to buy their own decorations? An afternoon should be set aside for the purpose.

[IvanaCake]

Am I the only one who had to Google impecunious?

[Vulgar]

Any present or stocking ideas for teenage schoolboys?

I simply MUST know how to decorate the house 1930s style.

And I want gay crackers